The farmland of Awad Abu Khater, a 40-year-old Palestinian citizen from Khan Yunis, has been reclaimed within the framework of Qatar Charity’s (QC) economic empowerment projects and he is no longer in need of the social welfare aid that used to help him feed his family of nine.
His ground remained undeveloped and isolated for a long time for not having money to invest in reclaiming the land. However, Abu Khater benefited from an income-generating project funded by the Qatar Charity office in the Gaza Strip, QC said in a statement.
After receiving QR11,000 from Qatar Charity, he was able to reclaim his bare ground. Recently, he set up a tomato farm over seven dunums of his land, which provides a good source of livelihood to cover the needs of his family in order to lead a dignified life.
After paying off all the debts, Abu Khater is now saving money to purchase a laptop for his eldest son, who has achieved excellent results in the final examinations of the first semester for the 2017-2018 academic year.
“My dream came true through Qatar Charity with the support of philanthropists in Qatar who extended their helping hand to make all this happen. Once again, my farmland got its life back and agricultural activities were resumed. Now, I am taking care of my family without the need of any financial support,” said Abu Khater, thanking His Highness the Emir, the government and people of Qatar for their generosity and philanthropy.
Abu Khater is not the only one who has managed to achieve the dream of leading a decent life, the QC statement noted. As many as 147 Palestinian families have benefited from the economic empowerment projects implemented by Qatar Charity at a cost of QR1.4mn donated by people in Qatar, which contributes to alleviating the economic and social pressures faced by poor families.
Since the beginning of this year, QC has implemented 137 other income-generating projects in various governorates of the Gaza Strip to “contribute to the transition from the need for help and care to sustainable development and advancement”, the statement added.
Most of the beneficiaries are families of those sponsored within the social welfare and sponsorship programme of QC, in addition to a number of non-sponsored poor families of the Gaza Strip.
The QC’s sponsorship programme includes categories such as orphans, poor families, people with special needs and others.
Awad Abu Khater: dream come true
